Mattress harness



May 23, 1950 w. c. NIELSEN MATTRESS HARNESS Filed July 24, 194'? Patented May 23, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MATTRESS HARNESS William C. Nielsen, Marlboro, Mass.

Application July 24, 1947, Serial No. 763,330

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to a harness and, more particularly, to a harness which may be readily applied to a bed mattress, or other such bulky article, so as to facilitate the manual handling thereof.

It is .a primary object of the present inventionto provide a harness of the above described character which may bequickly and easily asparts hereinafter set forth andillustrated in the accompanying 'drawings of a preferred embodi- 'ment'of the invention'from which the'several features of the invention and the advantages attained thereby will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 represents a preferred embodiment of'the present invention.

Fig. 2' represents, on a smaller'scale, the harness disclosed in Fig. 1 as applied to a mattress.

Fig. 3 represents a modified form of the present invention.

.Fig. 4 represents, on a smallerscale, the harness disclosed in Fig. 3 as applied to a mattress of the inner-spring type.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the first form of the invention comprises a girth strap H) which may be constructed of cloth webbing or "leather material. One end portion of this girth strap has secured thereto, by means of a plurality of rivets H, a tongue buckle 12, while the opposite end of the strap I is provided with a plurality of apertures. l3, 13 which are :adapted to receivea tongue l4 of the buckle l2. Dependingfrom the girth strap in is a-support "strap l5 which is secured to the girth strap In by means of a plurality of rivets IS. The free end portion of the support strap I5 is provided with a plurality of apertures l1, H which are adapted to receive a tongue l8 which is associated with a second tongue buckle 19, which, in turn, is secured to the girth strap ID by means of an auxiliary strap 20. Rivets 2| secure strap 20 to the girth strap Ill. Secured at spaced points along the length of the strap l0 are four handle members 22, 22', 23 and 24. Each of these handle members has its opposite end portions appropriately riveted to the girth strap H], as at locations 25, 25.

It is to be understood that, instead of the various above noted rivets, the present harness may have its divers elements secured together by means of stitches. Furthermore, in place of the tongue buckles :52 and I9, various other forms of bucklesorslides may be used.

Referring particularly to Fig. 2, in using the above described harness strap, a usual type of mattress 26 may be folded lengthwise of itself and, thereafter,the girth strap ilmay be secured thereabout by passing the apertured end portion of the strap through the buckle l2 in the usual manner. .After thestrap NJ has been tightened about the mattress to an appropriate degreeythe free end of the support strap l5 may be passed under the bottom of the mattress 25 and thereafter secured to the buckle i9; As may be seen from :Fig. 2,after the harness has been appropriately securedor assembled about the mattress 26, the various handles 22,23 and 2d of the unit are disposed in a'manner such that the manual handling of the mattress is greatly facilitated. In other words, by using the present form of harness, one will be able to carry the mattress 26 from one place 'to another with relative ease by merely lifting the folded unit by means'of the upwardly projecting handle members. It is to be particularly understood thatfthe handles 22 a and 22 are disposed directly over "the straps l5 and 2!), so that inthe event one person is to handle the folded mattress, these handles will be located in positions such that the harness will have-no tendency to shift off of the mattress, while the same is being transported. In other words,-either handle '22 or '22 is adapted to supportthe entire mattress load. It should be quite obvious, however, to those skilled in the art that the above described harness maybe equally well applied 'to other'bulky articles otherthan the bed mattresses.

The Figs. .3 and :4. disclose a modified form of the present invention. Referring particularly to 'Fig. 3,1;his modified" form' 'of the :present invention comprises-a primary girth strap 21., 'each. tof the opposite end portions of which is provided with a tongue buckle 28, having associated therewith a usual tongue member 29. Dependin from an intermediate portion of the strap 21 is a third tongue buckle 3B which is appropriately secured to the strap '21 by means of an auxiliary or buckle strap 3| and rivets 32. Secured to the girth strap 21 at opposite sides of the buckle strap 3| are the free end portions of a handle member 33. Rivets 34, 34 secure the opposite end portions of the handle 33 to the girth strap 21.

Associated with the primary girth strap 21 is a secondary girth strap 35 having its opposite end portions provided with apertures 36, 36 which are adapted to receive an appropriate one of the buckle tongues 29, 29. Depending from an intermediate portion of the strap 35 is a support strap 31, the one end portion of which is secured to the strap 35 as by means of rivets 38. The free end portion of this support strap is provided with apertures 39 which are adapted to receive a tongue 40 of the tongue buckle 38. At either side of the support strap 31 are disposed handle members 4l and 42, the free end portions of which are adapted to be secured to the secondary girth strap 35 at locations 43, 43. A handle 33' is similarly secured to the strap 35 so as to straddle strap 31.

Fig. 4 illustrates the second form of the invention as applied to a mattress 44 of the so-called inner-spring type which usually takes the form of a substantially rigid unit which cannot be folded in the manner of the mattress 23. Referring particularly to Fig. 4, it is to be understood that the second form of the invention is applied to the mattress 44 by securing the primary and secondary girth straps 2'! and 35 to gether, so that they will completely encircle the mattress. In other words, the apertured end portions of the strap 35 are passed through the buckles 28, 28 so that the girth straps 21 and 35 may tightly encompass the unit 44. Thereafter, the support strap 31 may be passed through the buckle 30 as to lock the girth straps in their proper positions. As in the case of the first form of the present invention, after the modified form of harness has been applied to the mattress 44, it is to be understood that the various members 33, 33', 44 and 42 will be located in such spaced positions about the girth straps so that one may readily handle the mattress 44 either alone or with the help of an associate. Also, as in the case of the first form of the invention it is to be noted that the handles 33 and 3! are disposed directly above the support straps 3| and 31 so as to be capable of assuming the full load of the mattress 44 in a manner such that the harness will not tend to slip off of the mattress. Thus, by grasping either of the handles 33 or 33', one may readily transport the mattress without requiring any additional help. Of course, when the second form of the harness is used, it is not necessary to disassemble the straps 21 and 35 completely and, as a matter of fact, one would normally leave one end of the strap 35 buckled to the strap 21 and thus facilitate the handling of the harness. For all intents and purposes, therefore, the straps 21 and 35 may be considered as a single unit with one of the buckles 28, 28 functioning as means whereby the length of the composite girth strap may be either lengthened or shortened to suit the particular desires of the user.

From the above, it is to be understood that the present invention comprises a device which is de- 4 signed in a manner such that it may be inexpensively manufactured but which, at the same time, presents a harness which may be quickly and easily applied to a variety of bulky articles for the purpose of facilitating the manual handling of the same.

I claim:

1. An article of the class described comprising, a girth strap, a buckle carried at one end of said girth strap for detachably securing the two opposite end portions thereof about an article to be carried, a support strap having one end portion thereof secured to said girth strap so that the support strap will extend transversely away from said girth strap, a second buckle carried by said girth strap at a location normally remote from said support strap for detachably securing the free end of said support strap to said girth strap so that said support strap may partially encircle the article to be carried, and a plurality of spaced handle members secured to said girth strap so as to project away from said girth strap in a direction opposite to that of said support strap, one of said handle members being mounted adjacent said second buckle.

2. An article of the class described comprising, a primary girth strap having a buckle secured at each of its two opposite end portions, a secondary girth strap having each of its opposite end portions adapted to be attached to a respective one of said buckles so that said girth straps may be tightened about an article to be carried, a support strap secured intermediate the ends of said secondary strap so as to extend transversely away therefrom, a third buckle secured intermediate the ends of said primary girth strap so as to receive the free end of said support strap which may partially encircle the article to be carried in a plane disposed at right angles to a plane defined by said girth straps, and a pair of handle members of which one is secured to said primary girth strap adjacent said third buckle while the other is secured to said secondary girth strap adjacent one end of said support strap, each of said handles being secured to their respective girth straps so as to project away therefrom in a direction opposite to that of said support strap.

WILLIAM C. NIELSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

